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It seems Microsoft just can’t get over the stranglehold that Chrome has on the browser market. According to new reports, users who mostly rely on Chrome could soon start getting pop-up notifications urging them to switch to Edge, Microsoft’s Chromium-based browser.
This kind of behavior isn’t exactly new. Microsoft has been desperate to get Chrome users to ditch Google’s browser for years, even going to some extreme lengths to try to make it happen. While many of those attempts have put a target on the back of the Internet Explorer replacement, Microsoft seems intent on continuing to try its luck.
The latest attempt, according to Windows Latest, includes a pop-up that asks you to pin Edge to your Windows taskbar whenever the system detects extensive Chrome usage. The experiment is currently only visible in Microsoft Edge’s Canary build, and it appears to have rolled out just recently. While the basic idea behind the campaign isn’t new — Microsoft has been trying to get users to pin Edge for years now — the method it’s using to push the notification is novel.
Watching how much you use Chrome
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Windows Latest says that it spotted a new flag in Edge that mentions Chrome specifically. The flags don’t currently work at the moment, and it’s worth noting that this could just be an experimental feature that never ships to customers. But, on the off-chance it does, Chrome users will likely want to know why Windows has started trying to get them to move to Edge again.
One flag, which is titled “msOptimizeChromePBSignalForPinningOnCloseCampaigns,” appears to trigger upon closing Edge. Windows Latest says that the “PBSignal” mention here is an internal signal used to decide exactly which users should see the notification. This seems to feed off another flag, called “msPinningCampaignChromeUsageGreaterThan90Trigger.” I wasn’t able to find the flags in my own version of Edge Canary, but there’s a chance that only a limited number of users received them.
It’s unclear exactly how Microsoft will measure Chrome usage here, but it does raise some questions about how much data the company is pulling from your system to control these triggers. Based on the wording, it seems likely that Chrome users will only see the notification when their usage of the browser is at or above 90%.
No matter how you break it down, though, the intent here is clear: Microsoft wants you to ditch Chrome and give Edge another chance. It also seems likely that the company will continue to do whatever it can to find ways to implant the idea in your brain, especially as it continues to update Edge with new features like Copilot mode.
